16. “I really really like you, Victoria Harding.”
“I really really like you, Victoria Harding.”
Mike
“Hedgehogs?”
“Vics here is Little Buckingham’s resident hedgehog expert,” Pete said.
“We found a hog out during the day, and Emily heard from Lucy about Vicky’s website and Facebook group.
To be honest, we were expecting just a bit of advice over the phone.
Not for Vicky to book it straight out of London and arrive in that fancy car with driver in under two hours. ”
“I needed to assess the situation directly,” Vicky explained. “Pregnant or nursing mothers need to be out in the day, but otherwise, the hedgehog might be injured or sick. This one?—”
“Barry,” said Pete, and Vicky nodded.
Was I going mad? Were they naming hedgehogs?
“Yes,” Vicky said. “Barry was loaded with parasites. You see, if it’s a broken leg, then the hog needs a vet, but parasites can be dealt with at the local rescue centre. I work with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.”
“Well, Barry was sorted out thanks to Vicky, and now he’s a proud dad. Hey Vics, do you want to come over and see them? They come into the garden most nights.”
“Oh, could I?” Vicky was nearly bouncing in her seat with excitement now. Then she glanced at me, and her expression faltered. “I mean. If it’s okay with Mike, that is.” She looked nervous again, and I hated that expression on her face.
“I’d love to see your hedgehog, love.”
Mark snorted, and I punched him in the arm.
“But, for now, all you bastards can bugger off so I can feed my woman.”
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Vicky said in a small voice to Mark. “I sometimes get a bit jumpy, and I’m not great in new environments.”
“Don’t even mention it, love,” Mark said in a soft voice. “I shouldn’t go about landing my big mitts on unsuspecting women’s shoulders.”
“Oh no, I?—”
“Seriously, it’s fine. My cousin has… some similar stuff going on as you. I totally understand.”
“Right, you lot, bugger off,” Jimbo, the bartender, snapped. “This one needs to order, don’t you, love?”
“Oh… okay,” Vicky said to Jimbo, her voice unsure. “I thought the procedure was to order at the bar?”
“The procedure is whatever I bloody well want it to be, and Vernon’s likely to sod off back home in the next half hour. I’m not having Lady Harding sitting in my pub unfed. You’re too skinny anyway, love.”
“Jimbo, you know I’m not a lady,” Vicky said quietly.
He shrugged. “You are to me. Now what’ll it be?”
Vicky
I’d eaten at The Badger’s Sett before, seeing as the Hardings were regulars there.
I mean, the Hardings owned the whole village, and therefore had to support the village pub.
So I knew the menu, and Jimbo knew how plain I liked my burger to be; how I liked the salad on a separate plate with no dressing.
And for once, when I was out, I actually ate.
Which was good, because Mike was right: I did need feeding up.
Margot, Lottie and Ollie had been on my case about it for a few weeks.
“Are you sure you don’t mind this?” I asked Mike as we walked the short distance to Pete’s house.
Mike smiled at me and tucked me under his arm.
I’d never walked arm-in-arm with anyone before.
It wasn’t the most efficient method of ambulation, but it was warm, and it felt unbelievably safe, so in this particular case I was willing to sacrifice some efficiency.
“Of course I don’t mind, love,” he said into the hair on the top of my head. “I want to meet Barry and his family as well.”
“Oh, well we’re not actually guaranteed to see the hedgehogs. Their nocturnal behaviour is not always predictable and––”
“Vicky, love. I’m just happy to be with you, okay?”
“Oh, okay,” I whispered as I buried more into his side.
We did get to see the hedgehogs.
Pete, Emily, and their two kids were already excited when we arrived, as Barry was out with the full contingent of his family.
I sat down on the kitchen floor with the kids facing the garden next to the glass double doors.
I liked kids in general: they were less complicated than adults, and they said what they meant.
Pete and Emily’s little girl, Maisie crawled into my lap and played with my hair, which was the extent of communication with Maisie, who was only two.
Their eldest, Marcus, asked me many many hedgehog questions.
At eight years old, Marcus was nearly as informed about hedgerow animals as me.
I’d inducted him into my hedgehog squad last year.
After we left and got back into Mike’s Land Rover, he sat there for a moment before he turned to me.
“Er… look,” I said quickly. “I know it’s been a bit odd. You probably don’t have dates where the woman is too fussy for the really nice restaurant you chose. Or who drags you off to watch hedgehogs for an hour.”
I bit my lip, thinking now that I shouldn’t have accepted Pete’s invite. And I definitely shouldn’t have gone into hedgehog hyperfocus mode when I got there.
Men like Mike probably don’t enjoy being ignored.
“I’m really so?—”
“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” Mike said in that growly, bossy tone I was starting to really appreciate.
I nodded, and he reached forward with both hands, cupping my face over the central console and sealing his mouth over mine.
One of my hands went into his thick, glorious hair whilst the other gripped the front of his shirt.
When he broke the kiss, we were both breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against mine.
“So,” I whispered. “You don’t mind about the hedgehogs?”
“No, baby,” he said in a soft voice that was just a little fierce at the same time. “I don’t mind about the hedgehogs. I love that I got to share that with you.”
He set me back into my seat and pulled my seatbelt over me like I was a child, which was unusual, since I wasn’t actually a child, but seeing as I got to smell him again and have him in my space for longer, I wasn’t going to object.
Before we pulled away, Mike smiled at the windshield and said, again in that soft but fierce tone, “I really really like you, Victoria Harding.”
“Um… okay,” I said. “I mean, I really like you too. But you already know that.”
So, it seemed my general weirdness was not going to put Mike off, which was good. I didn’t want to put Mike off. But then he drove me back to Buckingham Manor. When we stopped outside, I turned to him and frowned.
“Why aren’t we going back to the cabin?” I asked.
Mike sighed. “Vicky, love, if I take you back to my cabin now, after this evening, I’m definitely going to fuck you.”
“Well, that’s kind of the point of all this.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Jesus Christ, I’m not going to survive you. Vicky, I’m not going to take you home and fuck you after just one date.”
I made another completely unlike me harrumph noise to express my dissatisfaction with this plan.
Before spending time with Mike I don’t think I’d ever made such a ridiculous noise before in my life.
“Okay, how many dates?”
Mike laughed again, but it was pained this time. “I’m not going to give you a countdown to us fucking.”
I bit my lip. “But I’m really good with timelines, and having exact parameters and expectations.”
He chuckled again and rubbed his hand down his face before he jumped out of the driver’s seat, stalked around the car bonnet and opened my door.
He did the seatbelt thing again and then physically lifted me out of the car until I was in his arms, all the while, asking those little checks to make sure I was happy with any touch.
I was happy to be in his arms, but I still stared up at him with a grumpy expression as I did not want to get out of the car. I wanted to go back to his cabin.
“I’m not giving you a number.”
“Fine,” I said as I burrowed my face into his chest and inhaled deeply. “But I have to go back to London tomorrow.”
So we left it without a timeline until sex, which made me extremely unhappy.